PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION

Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for Education whether his Ministry's recently declared initiative to draw up guidelines for pre-school education will ensure that undue pressure and expectations are not exerted on children at too early an age.

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: During the Committee of Supply debate this year, MOE announced a list of desired outcomes (see Annex A below) of pre-school education (PSE).

Members may recall that the statement of outcomes focuses on values, attitudes and skills, but makes no mention of specific competencies in reading, writing and arithmetic. This is deliberate, as we want to emphasise that PSE is about preparing children for lifelong learning, rather than just preparation for P1.

We are mindful that a child needs to learn in fun ways, and his motivation and interest in learning must be nurtured from a tender age. Feeding him a curriculum that he is not ready for and over-emphasising the academic domain of his development may raise his P1 performance, but it may also dampen his love for learning in the longer term.

I have, on past occasions, mentioned that MOE will be more involved in PSE by paying particular attention on high leverage areas like designing a developmentally-appropriate curriculum, defining the minimum standards of teacher-training, conducting research and improving the regulatory framework. The set of desired outcomes will guide our efforts in these areas and ensure that our aim of preparing a child for lifelong learning permeates throughout the various strands of the review.

However, how successful we are in providing an environment that is conducive for children's growth and learning is equally dependent on what takes place at home. The expectations and aspirations of parents have a direct impact on their children's learning experiences. Therefore, I would like to urge parents to help their children acquire the critical foundations of learning, instead of being overly focused on academic results.

Annex A